A Common Thread Volunteering allows landscape architects to "give something back"
to their communities.
By Karen Stoelzle Midden, ASLA

The sanctuary landscape at Rosie's Place, a shelter for homeless
women and their children in Roxbury, Massachusetts; a heavily used
playground at Dixieanne's Tot Lot in a low-income neighborhood in
Sacramento, California; the youth "Cultiva" program, which grows
produce for the homeless, seniors, and the food bank in Boulder,
Colorado; and a Healing Garden for parents who have lost their babies
in Milwaukeeall have something in common: Landscape architects
were part of volunteer teams that made them happen.

What drives landscape architects to stay up late after a day's
work to design a pro bono landscape project, or to sit long hours
at a city council meeting seeking the approval of a project, knowing
they will spend Saturdays and free time organizing other volunteers
and installing a landscape for no financial compensation?